21 things that I have learnt in 21 years

I’ve recently turned 21 (congrats to me on making it this far) and whilst I’m aware that some people who may be reading this might be older than me and possibly thinking “she doesn’t even know the half of it”, I thought that for those who will indulge me and who may be younger than me, I would like to share some life lessons that I have learnt over the years. Enjoy!

The 21 life lessons that I live by.

1) Start documenting now! I’ve had a diary for the past 5 years and I’m over 55,000 words deep in it. I’m so glad I started when I did because I’m able to see just how much I’ve changed over the years.

2) Start saving! Easier said than done when you’re on a student budget but whatever you can save, definitely do.

3) Treat yo’ self! I’m aware of that slight juxtaposition, however, a little indulgence from time to time never hurt anybody.

4) Experiences over material objects. I’ve never been too materialistic (although enjoy my fair share of expensive makeup) but if doing this year abroad has taught me anything it’s that your memories with friends and the stories you get to tell from them are so much more valuable than that expensive thing you bought on a whim.

5) Always take a paracetamol and drink water before going to bed after a night out! It. Is. Essential. Therefore your hangovers will be a lot kinder to you.

6) Stick to your gut, always because it’ll never fail you.

7) Take more pictures – the memory-keeping, showing the grandkids kind.

8) Don’t just watch, take part. This was my New Year’s resolution of 2015, and I’m glad that the super shy person that I was back then decided to join in on things, because thanks to that, it has helped me massively in the long run.

9) Try not to care what people may think about you. This is still sometimes now hard for me to do, however, end of the day it shouldn’t matter.

11) Travel! Obviously, this tends to come with restraints like time and money but travelling can really change your perspective on life.

12) Be spontaneous – get a tattoo on a whim, book a last minute trip. You only get one life, go nuts from time to time.

13) Be more proactive – this was my resolution of 2017. At the time this meant motivating myself to order a railcard which was something I was bizarrely putting off for months, but this resolution mainly turned into getting myself to Italy and therefore organising myself to do all the things I needed to do for the move.

14) Don’t settle. Never, ever.

15) Build a support system. It could be one person or it could be 10 people, just someone who will be around you for the shitty times, ‘cos I hate to break it to you but they’re inevitable.

16) Talk it out. Growing up I was so bad at sharing things with people, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve realised it’s almost impossible and definitely not healthy to bottle things up, hence the utility of a support system.

17) Do more things that make you nervous.

18) You only need the positive people. All the ones who bring you down and bring you bad vibes, do you really feel the need to having them in your life? The answer is NAH.

19) Alongside that, be a boss bitch. Don’t feel the need to say yes to everything, don’t take any crap from anybody.

20) Don’t let your washing build up – you’ll feel like you have your life together if you tackle it straight away.